San Diego Air & Space Museum

Imagine a supersonic jet fighter that takes off and lands on water skis. Sounds insane, doesn’t it? You might think so, but the U.S. Navy built and flew four prototypes of Convair’s Sea Dart in the 1950s, and you’ll find one of them on a pylon in front of the San Diego Aerospace Museum, (SDASM) right next to an SR-71 Blackbird.

Inside you’ll find exhibits that span the entire history of human flight. This is apparent in the lobby, which features the Apollo 9 command module (on loan from the Smithsonian), a World War I Sopwith Pup biplane with the skin removed so that you can see the wooden structure, and a Global Hawk surveillance UAV.